On September 7, 2000, Congressman
John L. Mica (R-FL) and Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) introduced the National
Media Campaign to Prevent Underage Drinking Act of 2000. This bipartisan legislation
would authorize the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services
to conduct a national media campaign directed at preventing and reducing underage alcohol
consumption.

The need for a separate and "free-standing"
campaign is evident (see the Alcohol Policies Project online archives at http://www.cspinet.org/booze/arch.htm for
background information). Last year, Congresswoman Roybal-Allard and Congressman Frank R.
Wolf (R-VA) proposed an amendment to the Treasury-Postal Appropriations bill to add
underage-drinking prevention messages to the Office of National Drug Control Policy's
(ONDCP) youth anti-drug media campaign. Opponents of the measure, including General Barry
McCaffrey, contended that the addition of alcohol to the campaign would dilute the
anti-drug message.

What You Can Do

Contact your U.S. Representative and ask him or her
to co-sponsor and support H.R. 5137. You may reach your Representative utilizing the House
of Representatives' "Write Your Representative" page at www.house.gov/writerep/. Members may also be
reached by calling the Capital Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Write or call Representatives listed as co-sponsors
to thank them and urge "active" involvement in H.R. 5137.

Modeled on ONDCP's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, the Media Campaign to
Prevent Underage Drinking will use television, print, radio and Internet advertisements to
educate children, adolescents and their parents about the dangers of underage drinking.
The bill defines underage drinking as:

"Any consumption of alcoholic beverages by
individuals who have not attained the age at which (in the State involved) it is legal to
purchase such beverages."

*The purchase of alcohol by persons under the age of 21
is currently illegal in all 50 States and the District of Columbia.

About the Bill

H.R. 5137 would amend the Public Health Service
Act to provide for a national media campaign to reduce and prevent underage drinking in
the United States. Specifically the legislation would:

Direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
develop, implement, and conduct a national media campaign;

Require the Office of Public Health and Science, in
conjunction with the Surgeon General, to conduct the campaign with messages based on
scientific research;

Create a national media campaign to supplement, not
supplant, existing efforts by federal, state, local, private and nonprofit entities to
reduce and prevent underage drinking;

Provide $1 million for the development of a
comprehensive strategy planning document, and appropriate sufficient funds for the
purchase of media time, testing and evaluation of advertising, and evaluation of the
effectiveness of the media campaign; and

Require as a condition of each purchase of media time
or space that the seller of the time provide non-federal contributions to the national
media campaign equal to 50 percent of the purchase price, which may be contributions of
funds or in the form of public service announcements specifically directed to reducing and
preventing underage drinking.

If the cost of underage drinking were shared
equally by each congressional district, the amount would total more than $120 million per
district (Source: Levy, Stewart & Wilbur. Costs of Underage Drinking.
Pacific Institute, 1999. Written for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile
Justice and Delinquency Prevention).

Young people who began drinking before age 15
were four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who began drinking at
age 21 (Source: Grant & Dawson. Age at Onset of Alcohol Use and its Association
with DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence: Results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol
Epidemiologic Survey.Journal of Substance Abuse, Volume 9, pages 103-110,
1997).

In 1998, about 10.4 million current drinkers
were between the age of 12-20 years old. Of these, 5.1 million were binge drinkers,
including 2.3 million heavy drinkers* (Source: Summary of Findings from the 1998 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999).

*The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse defines
current use as at least one drink in the past month, binge use as five or more drinks on
the same occasion at least once in the past month, and heavy use as five or more drinks on
the same occasion on at least five different days in the past month.